Fufa, thank you for your response. I think I'm having the exact same problem, where I've done my reading so the "rules" make sense, but my friends don't understand while they are necessary. Once everyone bought their tickets and started "claiming beds" in the RV I thought we were good to go, but that has turned out to not be the case. After reading so many responses today I think you're absolutely right, the other first timers need to be on their own and take responsibility for themselves. I like to make sure everybody has a good time when we're all together, but this time that's too much for me to do. I want to go have a good time myself!

My boyfriend and I actually almost bought an older used RV for this trip because the cost was similar to renting one - I'm so grateful now that we didn't do that.

Unfortunately, I didn't take deposits from anyone for the initial rental. 3 of the 8 friends have already offered to help me cover the cost of the lost deposit. I'm willing to eat the rest of the cost to make a clean break and set up my own burn rather than hurt any of my friendships. The last thing I need is brewing resentment from people as I try to plan my trip. I have a feeling they might already get annoyed with me when I get there and they realize that I was right in my preparations and that they aren't prepared enough.

The ones that are helping to cover the deposit are doing the right thing. To the ones who have not, I might say "Your portion of the lost deposit, should you pay it, is $__." Some people are able to rationalize "Oh, maybe it didn't cost too much", when they're not told outright.

The yearly social drop-off is a weird little part of Burning Man culture.

Hind sight is always 20/20, but had you asked each person who had verbally committed to go for their share of the deposit before you paid it, you would have known who was serious and who wasn't.And another pretty good indicator of serious intention is having their tickets in hand. I'll also bet that none of them purchased tickets either. oh well, live and learn.

JKhttp://www.mudskippercafe.comWhen I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.

Don't pick up food and all your supplies in LA. That extra weight will cost more gas. Wait till you get to Reno. JRS sends out a email with a list of where to get supplies in Reno. Save-mart is great. (I HATE WAL-MART!) Junkees is a cool place to pick up costume stuff. Trader Joes is there. And that way maybe your drive up there will be more comfortable and then just have the car stuffed from Reno to BRC. I am even gonna wait to Reno to pick up my monkey hut supplies. Good luck! And yea... avoid people that are gonna be burn-killers.

I'd like to point out WINCO, there are TWO of them in Reno...they are OPEN 24/7!

They take CASH only, (bring cash or be ready to pay a greedy bank an ATM fee, blagh) They have a great food selection and the prices are better than wal mart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's a bulk foods section that rocks, fromdried figs to fancy sugars, also the produce is quality stuff. I compared prices closely with wally mart and they kicked their ass...$1.62 for choclate or vanilla almond milk...that's dirt cheap! wal mart was $2.28 (bastards)I bought cases of almond milk and coconut juices and tons of other stuff...they have real maple syrups and all sorts of panacke mixes, including apple spice (yum)

They also have a bad ass black raspberry Tillamook Farms ice cream (and a bunch of other great country type/hillbilly flavors)...we just finished a 1/2 gallon of the black raspberry tonight, yum!! (you could eat it on the way to the playa at least)

I'm the MAN in a truck, burner who is stuck, you're in luck! I'll whip out my BIG tow chain and not charge you, not even one lousy buck!

I live in Reno and am happy to report that Winco now takes debit cards! They're definitely the cheapest grocery store in town, and they're not Walmart. We also have plenty of camping supply stores, I'd recommend Sierra Trading Post and Twin City Surplus. We also have REI, Cabela's Sportsman's Warehouse & Scheel's if you want to pay retail. Another local business, Mark, Fore & Strike, has camping supplies (along with lots of guns if you like to look).

"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. "
Oscar Wilde

Until someone buys a ticket they are considered unlikely to follow through. I ignore people that say they 'want to go to Burning Man' beyond telling them to read the guide and buy a ticket. It's kinda like the number of people that attended Woodstock vs the number that claim to have attended Woodstock... Hundreds of thousands think Burning Man is cool and want to go... Part of the charm is that it's not that easy to do the first time. It's a good test...

Fufa wrote:Glowinglassrose, unfortunately this kind of situation does happen. My boyfriend and I have dealt with it this year with planning our second burn. All of our friends that we've known for 5+ years claimed to be super stoked for bm. We even bought a 40 ft bus that was converted to an RV so we could fit everyone and all our stuff. Then january rolls around and 2 drop out (one supposedly due to the fact "there was too much planning to do", when I was the one arranging the whole thing). Then in may another 2 came out and told us that had decided months ago they didn't like our "rules" but they were too lazy to bother telling us earlier. Another just dropped out due to a sports tournament. It happens. I've learned who of these friends not to invite on trips again, since I can't trust their word anymore. Now my group atleast still has a large enough number to offset fuel costs, because we found people online through burner networks to camp with and rideshare. The funny thing is the friends that ended up being serious about going are the ones we hang out with the least.

My new policy is to not arrange to travel/camp together with anyone who's never been to the burn. If they can take the initative to do it all on their own, then I'll consider including them in my camp. You have enough on your plate your first burn anyways hun. I would expect that those that said yes to the RV then backed out should be responsible for helping recoup the cost for cancelling. Did you take deposits from them?

I really hope you work everything out, and end up having a good burn. It's tough when all these issues crop up before you're even at the desert. I also echo the truck rental, or if you're partial to it check if any theme camps are still open to new campers. With some you pay your pitch to the camp for food and water, leaving you with much less to haul. Then you might be able to make due with just your car.

Glowinglassrose, I know exactly how you feel. Last year was my first burn. Originally my boyfriend and I were going to drive ourselves in my car, but somehow four more of our friends that have been to burning man 3 times convinced us to rent a van. I was the only one with a credit card so I put it on my card. Because it was in my name, I was only comfortable with myself and my boyfriend driving it. Not to mention, they all started drinking in the car on the way down and were too drunk to drive. While we were there, they were constantly in and out of the rental, getting it covered with playa and mud. On the last day, one of our friends didn't show up to camp. We had talked about leaving at 10 am because one of our camp members had to be back in Seattle to catch a flight home the next day. We waited about 5 hours with the moral dilemma of whether or not we should leave them. Of course, we decided to stay and by the time we got into the car, the straggler and 2 other campmates were frying on acid and couldn't help drive during the nonstop ride home.

Point of this rant: One of the most important things to remember on the playa is the motto: Radical Self Reliance. Yes, you could probably survive the whole week off of gifts and piggybacking on other people's preparation, but that's not what Burning Man is about.

If this is your first time, go with your boyfriend and take care of each other. There's nothing worse than having to take care of your friends at your virgin burn and being stressed out by them. Its a long, long week, and people get cranky towards the end. The less you have to fight about, the less you'll likely fight. And they won't get the true experience of Burning Man if they cant fend for themselves.

I know that doesn't help with the rental car issue, but its just my two cents about taking care of other people.

Hey, glowinglassrose, I remember following your earlier thread elsewhere. I'm sorry to hear your friends turned out to be as flaky as it sounded like they were going to be! It looks like you're getting good advice here, and I think you'll have things well in hand...

I haven't read through the rest of the replies, so I apologize if this is redundant... however I wanted to share my car camping experience.

In 2006 I went with one of my best girlfriends and we ended up just sleeping in our rented SUV. It was fine and we had a blast! Granted, our camp was rather pathetic looking... just a dusty SUV with a few solar lights staked around it (half of which broke my mid-week, so we looked even more pathetic!)

Bottom line: car camping is definitely do-able!

A few things to keep in mind: It is close-quarters, so you better know and love your camp mate! Also be VERY organized! Two people and a carful of stuff can quickly become a mess. So have a place for everything -- and constantly be sure things are back in place. We hung fabric from the windows for privacy, not sure much for sun-block... as we couldn't remain in the car much past 8 or 9 or so in the morning. Luckily we made friends with our RV-neighbors, but mostly for shade we hung out at Center Camp.

That's really it. It's pretty simple... but you have enough time to look into alternatives at this point.